Police arrest man who fell from grocer’s ceiling

Posted by edronco | Sep 9, 2013

Police arrested a 20-year-old man from Florida over the weekend after he allegedly got high and went on escapades at two Sitka stores.

Police say shortly after 11 p.m. Friday night, Michael Joseph Orr climbed into the AC Lakeside grocery store ceiling above the men’s bathroom. But his plan was quickly foiled when he fell through that ceiling over an adjacent hallway, and fled through the store’s emergency exit. That set off an alarm, which alerted employees, who called police.

As police were responding to Lakeside, a second call came in, about an alarm at the CarQuest store, near the roundabout. Police responded there and found the side door kicked in.

According to the official complaint, Sitka police Sgt. Daryl Rice chased Orr through the building, got him on the ground and handcuffed him.

Police interviewed Orr, who they say admitted to climbing through the ceiling at Lakeside, and to breaking into the CarQuest store. He told police he opened the safe and grabbed some money. Police later found upwards of $1,000 cash between some boxes.

Police say Orr also admitted to smoking four or five bowls of marijuana during the day and taking some anti-anxiety medication that was not prescribed for him.

Orr is from Miami, Fla., and was in Sitka doing seasonal work this summer. He was due to fly back to Miami on Tuesday. Instead, he’ll appear in a Sitka courtroom on charges of second-degree burglary, second-degree theft, and third-degree criminal mischief.